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Hello everyone!
This is my first post and I’m starting in a very big way, talking about the mythological IT bags Birkin & Kelly by Hermès… ironic fashion style! I really don’t think they even need an “historical” introduction, because their fame anticipate their names, but I’ll write few words just in case someone didn’t know anything about them.
The notorious Birkin bag is manufactured by leather goods and named after British-born actress and singer Jane Birkin. This bag gave life to such a giant level of influence on pop culture that actress Jane Birkin once said: “now when my daughter (actress Charlotte Gainsbourg) goes to America, they ask her if she is the daughter of the bag”. Its paranormal fame is largely due to its very high prices (the price of a Birkin starts at approximately $5000, not including sales taxes, but can reach 5- and sometimes 6-digit prices) and also because of the “waiting list” you need to attend to have one. The waiting list for a Birkin is over two years. In practice, however, many stores have a “call list” and an “order list”, both usually consisting of clients who have in one way or another become “regulars” or have formed a relationship with a particular salesperson. I really think this whole “if you really wanna spend all this money for this bag..WELL, you also have to wait two years to get one” story contributed to add charme to this purse.
Also the Kelly Bag made popular through high-profile clientele: named after Grace Kelly for her many appearances with it this bag remain in demand and there has historically been a one year waiting list for it!
BTW voices told me that in this post-crisis period waiting lists are misteriously diseappearing..following the global economic meltdown, demand fell and wait lists were eliminated or substantially reduced in many retail locations. Despite the apparent availability of the most sought-after models, Hermès reported profits for the worst fiscal quarters of 2008.
It’s infact a recent phenomenon also the possibilty of seeing “real” Birkin & Kelly bags exposed in shop windows in Hermès stores: once they were so “sacred” clients could see them just on magazines…or by buying one! Ah, what crisis can do!
However I think both of them are the Bags with capital “B”. Simply perfect.
Quality level is flawless: Hermès does not use assembly lines; only one craftsman may work on one handbag at a time, hand-stitching each individual piece. Due to the labour-intensive nature of Hermès production methods and the use of rare materials (sometimes including exotic skins as well as precious metals), one bag can take 18 to 24 hours to create.
Birkin bag in particular (my favorite) got all the qualities of an ideal bag: chic, practical, right for different times of the day, smart, beautiful.
After this little introduction… let’s see what’s new on Hermès side!

Hermès opened a corporate website, easy to reach from the official website, called les ailes d’Hermès, where visitors can dig deep into Hermès world. I really like this approach from this major fashion industry to clients, cause I found many inspiring materials in this part of the site! One of them was this: a nice “do-it-yourself Kelly bag”.

Hermès gives you the possibility of having a Kelly bag approved by the maison being very clear in explanations and different passages…in the end you’ll have you’re own Kelly…just in paper! Not satisfied yet? You can also construct your own leather (or should I say paper?) bracelet, to reach a total Hermès look very very very low cost! Waiting for a real one…